A Series of Discussions Regarding the Unpopular Drainage of One of Iowa's Natural Lakes

This Club for this year has fo11c'wed the plan of having a good speaker at all the meetings. A regular committee arranged these meetings and the speakers were selected with the view of getting for the members all the information on subjects of interest to the Forestry profession.

The world owes much to pioneers who blazed the way against many obstacles in teaching wood preservation and conservation, and to the Forestry schools that have been established and to there students who carried on and are still carrying on. Not so many years ago the general opinion held that “there was plenty of wood standing for all time.” Today, conservation of wood is a reality and the world is conserving wood. While much has been done and much is yet being done we find the two old enemies of wood, Fire and Decay, taking an enormous annual toll.

Forests, forever, well, hardly ever unless we go about it systematically and persistently with broad vision ahead. All we need is a little imagination like the kind we had as boys. Some of those dreams came true because we set to work with the vision in mind. Can’t do much without an imagination- wouldn’t get far! In 1856 old man D- settled in New York State on wild land around a little lake. He was young then. Most of the original forest had been burned. His dream was to have a nice big farm, raise his crops and his children and make a good home. Scarcely anybody outside that little section has ever heard of him. He was a great man though colleges existed; decided to use the land for what it was best suited. Wise old fellow, he was! A good stock, too, and strong, for he cleared up the land and planted crops, mostly by his own hand, I suppose.